Ice cube ejector mechanisms



P 2, 1958 E. A. BAlLLlF ETAL ICE CUBE; EJECTOR MECHANISMS Filed April-19, 1956 ttes Patent Ofitice i 2,849,869 Patented. Sept. 2, 195.8

ICE CUBE EJECTOR MECHANISMS Ernest 'A. Baillif, and Donald R. Cobb,Evansville, Ind., assignors to Whirlpool Corporation, a corporation ofDelaware Application April 19, 1956, Serial No. 579,214

1 Claim. (Cl. 62'-3 65) The present invention relates to ice cubeejector mechanism and is particularly concerned with the provision of animproved ice cube ejector mechanism adapted to facilitate the ejectionof ice cubes by the manipulation of a handle which is accessible fromthe forward end of the ice cube tray at all times.

One of the objects of the invention is the provision of an improved icecube ejector mechanism in which the ice cubes are frozen in a trayhaving a movable grid, that is permanently secured in the tray so thatthe tray may be inverted and the ejector mechanism actuated to cause thecubes to fall into an ice cube bin without dropping the grid.

Another object of the invention is the provision of an improved ice cubeejector mechanism in which the, ice tray is provided with a grid havinga longitudinal. divider plate secured in the tray and a multiplicity oftransverse webs forming molded recesses for formingice cubes and alongitudinally extending connecting rod strip which. actuates all of thewebs from an inclined position toward a vertical position to break thebond between the ice cubes and the walls of the tray and grid, andto-release the cubes from the tray and grid.

Another object of the invention is the provision of an improved ice cubetrayand grid of class described having movable grid parts which loosenthe ice cubes. and having ,a longitudinally protruding lever whichextends outwardly from the front of the ice tray in position to beaccessible to. the user when the tray is located in the evaporator or ina shucking position, so that the lever may actuate the movable parts ofthe grid to release the ice cubes into an ice cube bin.

Another object of the invention is the provision of an improved leveractuated shucking mechanism including a lever mounted upon an upwardlyextending bracket and connected by one or more connecting links. tothegrid webs which, in turn, are connected to each other by an elongatedactuating strip, the webs being moved toshucking position when the leveris moved upward in upright position so that a downward force may be usedon. the lever to discharge the cubes when the tray is in the invertedposition.

Another object of the invention is the provision of. an improved icecube ejector mechanism including agrid having a longitudinal dividerplate and a multiplicity of transverse webs in whichthe divider plate isprovided with laterally projecting portions for supporting the webs inan inclined position and in which an elongated actuating strip isprovided with actuating shoulders, each of which is spaced a slightly,greater distance from its web 2 so thatthe webs are not actuatedsimultaneouslybut successively to loosen ice cubes-from. the gridand todis,- charge them one after another into the ice cube bin.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from thefollowing description. and; the accompanying drawings, in whichsimilar.characters of: reference indicate similar parts throughout theseveralviews.

Referring to the single sheet of drawings accompanying thespecification,

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary view in perspective of an ice cube ejector trayembodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional View taken on the plane of the line 22 ofFig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows;

Fig; 3 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the plane of the line3-3 of Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows; Y

Fig. 4 is an end elevational view taken from the left end of Fig. 2;

Fig. -5 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the plane of the line5--5 of Fig. 2, looking in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the plane of the line66. of Fig. 3, looking in the, direction of the arrows.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2,10 indicates in its entirety the ice cubeejector tray and mechanism which preferably includes an aluminum icetray 11, a grid assembly 12 and an actuating mechanism assembly 13.

The tray 11 has a rectangular bottom 14 and outwardly diverging sidewalls 15 and 16, and outwardly diverging end walls 17 and 18. The wallsare joined to the bottom by an easy bend 19 in each'case. This structurefacilitates the discharge of the ice formed in the tray because of thefact that the ice will taper to a smaller size at the bottom of thetray.

The grid assembly 12 preferably includes a longitudinally extendingdivision plate 20 of aluminum and of a shape complementary to thelongitudinal inside section of the tray butnarrower than the depth ofthe tray having its 'upper edge at 21.

The division plate 20 is preferably provided along its lower edge 22with a multiplicity of rectangular slots 23, large enough to receive thelower portion 24 of each web 25, which is left after forming the throughaperture 26'. In each web, the divider plate 20, which happens to beshown in Fig. 2, may be used with double the number of webs employed inFig. 2, if it is desired to make narrower ice cubes.

The divider plate 20 is preferably secured in the tray 11 by a metalclip 26a at the left end which has an attaching flange that is rivetedat 27 to the end flange 28 of the tray.

Clip 26a is forked and has each of its legs 29 located on one side ofthe division plate 20 holding thedivision plate downward, and preventingits lateral movement.

At the other end the division plate 20 is also held downward by a secondU shaped clip 30 secured by a rivet 31 to the end wall 18 and having aslot to provide two legs 32 that engage the division plate 20 to hold itdown and prevent lateral movement.

The tray 11 preferably provided on the upper edges of its side walls 15,16 with the laterally projecting flanges 33, 34 adapted to rest onsuitable guides of an ice cube bin with the tray inverted so that theice cubes may be shucked or ejected with the tray in the invertedposition.

The division plate is provided with a multiplicity of outwardly pinchedtongues 35, Fig. 6, one for each transverse web to give the webs supportin the position shown in Fig. 2 which they assume during the freezing ofcubes. Were it not for these lugs 35, the webs might tilt even farthersince they are not supported against tilting by upwardly extending lugs36 on the actuator strip 37 for a reason further to be described.

The actuator strip 37 comprises'a narrow strip of the same thickness asthe division plate 20, having a multiplicity of upwardly extending lugs36 for engaging the Webs 25. It happens that the actuating strip 37,'asshown, has twice the number of lugs 36 needed, permitting the use oftwice as many webs, if desired.

The lower edge 38 of the actuating strip 37 slides on the upper edge 39of the divider plate 20 and both strips are located in the apertures 26of all of the webs 25.

In order that the actuator strip 37 may be placed beside the dividerplate Zi) during the assembly to cause the lugs 36 to clear the upperedge 40 of apertures 26, these apertures 26 are made wider at 41 over anarea sufficient to receive the actuator strip 37 plus its lugs.

The ice tray 11 is provided with a bracket 42 at its right end which maybe said to be of U shape, since it has a yoke 43 that is riveted at 31to the end wall 18 and it has two upwardly extending legs, 44 whichextend outwardly from the pan at 45 and upwardly at 46.

This locates the pivot end of the bracket legs 44 above the edge of wall18 for supporting the pivot rivets 47. The actuating mechanism 13includes a handle 48 which is substantially U shaped in cross section,having a body 49 and side flanges 50 which increase its strength.

The side flanges 50 are pivoted with rivets 47 to the legs 4- of bracket42. The handle 48 has a pair of hell crank extensions 51 that extendbelow the pivot 47 and are provided with a transverse riveted pin 52.

The outer end of handle 48 is bent downward at 53 and is curved outwardagain at 54 to dispose of the required length of the handle for thedesired leverage without making the assembly too long.

Pin 52 on handle 48 supports a connecting link 55 which is U shaped incross section and has its depending flanges provided with apertures forpin 52. The link 55 may have a pair of transverse rivets 56 passingthrough registering apertures in a pair of hooks 57.

Hooks 57 comprise short metal plates located on opposite sides of theactuating strip 37 in an enlarged or wider aperture 58 for the end web25a. The hooks extend upwardly at their end portions 58, so that theycannot get out of the apertures 58 when properly located and riveted tothe link 55.

59 indicates a short prying lever mounted on a rivet 60 carried bybracket 61 on the other end of the tray,

so that the user may push it down on curved portion 62 to pry the trayloose.

With the present mechanism the pry need not be employed, since thehandle itself is large enough to permit the breaking of the tray fromthe surrounding ice on the evaporator. The method of operation of thepresent ice cube ejector tray is as follows.

The parts are arranged in the position of Fig. 2. The tray is filledwith a measured supply of water from a spout controlling the watersupply so that there will be no spilling.

The evaporator is preferably maintained about a temperature of 0 B, sothat the water is quickly frozen into cubes. The tray is then liftedfrom the evaporator by means of the handle 48. It is inverted and placedon an ice cube bin having upper side walls for engaging the flanges 33,34 on the tray, or having suitable guides for this purpose.

The handle is then pushed downward with the tray in the invertedposition causing the legs 51 of the handle to move to the right in Fig.2, pulling on the link 55 4 and the hooks 57. The hooks 57 actuate thefirst transverse web 25a which pulls on the actuating strip 37.

The first web pivots from diagonal position toward a vertical positiontending to break the bond with the ice cube located in advance of thisweb and tending to squeeze the ice cubes upwardly.

Since the legs 36 are successively located farther to the left of eachweb on the actuating strip 37, this actuating strip has its lugs 36successively brought into engagement with the webs 25 beginning on theright hand side and breaking out the cubes in succession, one afteranother.

The advantage of this is that it requires less force to loosen one cube.The present mechanism is, therefore, adapted to loosen the cubes oneafter another using a minimum amount of force. If some of the cubesstill remain in the tray, the handle may be moved back and forth a fewtimes which will certainly release them all.

Then the mechanism is moved back to the position of Fig. 2 where thelugs 35 and the lower slots 23 hold the transverse webs 25 all at thesame angular tilted position. The tray may then be placed right side upin the evaporator and filled again. The cubes may be harvested as theybecome frozen.

It will, thus, be observed that we have invented an improved ice cubetray and shucker mechanism which only requires the inversion of the trayover an ice cube bin and the forcing down of the actuating lever. Thisdraws all of the dividing webs from a diagonal position to a verticalposition, accomplishing this successively, so that only one web has itscube broken loose at once.

A minimum amount of force is required as distinguished from the leversfor releasing ice cubes in the prior art, where the levers arecustomarily folded over the grid.

The present actuating mechanism projects from the front of the tray andis accessible to the user for shucking the ice cubes, even when the trayitself has been inserted upside down into a recess above a bin.

While I have illustrated a preferred embodiment of my invention, manymodifications may be made without departing from the spirit of theinvention, and I do not wish to be limited to the precise details ofconstruction set forth, but desire to avail myself of all-changes withinthe scopeof the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

An ice cube tray of the ejecting type adapted to be actuated by a leverextending forwardly out of an evaporator, comprising a metal tray havinga bottom, side walls, and end walls, the walls being shaped to slopeupward and outward, a metal grid permanently mounted in said tray, andcomprising a longitudinally extending partition, a metal clip riveted toone end wall of the tray, and having a split retaining flange in thetray, engaging both sides of the partition to secure the partition atthis end, a U shaped clip at the other end of the tray embracing the endwall and riveted thereto, and split into legs inside the tray, engagingboth sides of the partition to secure it at the other end, a pluralityof apertured cross plates receiving said partition in their ape'rturesand tiltable thereon to form a grid with movable cross plates, anactuating strip above said partition and located in the same aperturesin the cross plates, and having lugs for engaging and tilting the crossplates, a U bracket carried by the other end of the tray, on the outsideof its end wall, and secured by said U shaped clip and rivet, said Ubracket having an upwardly and inwardly extending pair of pivot flangeslocated above the rear end wall of the tray, a Wide lever havingdepending pivot flanges pivoted on said pair of pivot flanges of saidbracket, said lever having its inner end pivotally connected to saidactuating strip by a link and a hook, and said lever having a wide, flatactuating end, extend- 5 ing outwardly from said tray to be accessiblefor ejecting cubes when the tray is inverted and housed in anevaporator, said lever being adapted to exert a pull on the actuatingstrip to tilt the cross plates to loosen and eject the ice cubes.

Mitchell Sept. 27, 1932 Jennings Oct. 15, 1940 6 Jennings Feb. 29, 1944Hedlund Feb. 29, 1944 Steenstrup Nov. 7, 1944 Berkeley Nov. 30, 1948Roberts Dec. 23, 1952 Henderson Feb. 8, 1955 Frei Aug. 2, 1955 GauglerJuly 3, 1956 Sampson Aug. 7, 1956 Frei Oct. 15, 1957

